Xiaomi raises over $1B from All-Stars Investment, DST Global, others

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi, which also has a good presence in India, has netted over $1 billion in funding led by All-Stars Investment, an investment firm launched by former Morgan Stanley analyst Richard Ji, says a The Wall Street Journal report quoting an unnamed source. Russian investment firm DST Global, besides Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC also participated in the round.

The round, which is expected to be closed this week, would value Xiaomi at more than $45 billion, as per this report.

Founded in 2010, Xiaomi is a mobile internet company with over 3,000 employees across the globe. Already one of the leading smartphone manufacturers in China, Xiaomi had made a successful debut in the Indian smartphone market in July this year with the launch of its flagship device Mi3. In India, the company has entered into an exclusive partnership with Indian e-commerce major Flipkart.com to offer its devices. Following an online only flash sales model for selling its devices in the country, the company has seen its products being sold out within seconds.

According to Jun Lei, co-founder and CEO of Xiaomi, India is becoming its largest overseas market.

Early this month, the Delhi High Court had granted an ex parte injunction order against Xiaomi for infringement of Swedish telecoms equipment maker Ericsson's patents. The order had prohibited the company from manufacturing, importing, advertising, and selling the devices that infringe the Standard, Essential Patents (SEPs) in question. However, the ban was lifted within a week of granting the order, and Xiaomi was permitted to sell and import Qualcomm chipset-based (a licensee of Ericsson) handsets in the country till Jan 8, 2015.